Saturday, June 14, 2003

New Braunfels Herald Zeitung

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New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung (Newspaper) - June 14, 2003, New Braunfels, Texas t NEW BRAUNFELS SATURDAY June 14 2003 16 pages in 2 sections Vol 152 No Serving New Bratmfels and Comal County since 1852 50 cents Police fire still new posts BY DYLAN JIMENEZ Staff Writer All four of New Braunfels firestations would remain open under the million budget approved this week by city council The budget puts three new police officers on the streets and six new firefighters in uniform While NBPD Chief Russell Johnson and Chief John Herber are elated with staffing addi tions they stressed Thurs day their departments are still lacking manpower Johnson originally asked city council for 11 new patrol officers and two new detec tives citing inadequate staff for a city the size of New Braunfels After staff cuts in April NBPD lost four police officer positions and an assistant police chief position that went unfilled The same thing happened to the fire department Herber asked council for nine firefighters but got six He is six firefighters short because three unfilled posi tions were lost in the April reduction in force There are 36 officers work ing patrol for the NBPD which means six officers per shift at most Paperwork snag could mean legal action in plat spat I would like to see a mini mum of eight per shift actu ally working John son said That would allow police to beef up traffic patrol Cur rently officers work traffic between other calls It would take two more offi cers per shift a total of 12 new employees to be able to dedicate officers to traffic con trol Were a long ways away from Johnson said Flexibility remains a prob lem at the fire department Fire station five is an station Its SeeSHORTHANDEDMA r BYRONMALONEY Staff Writer A permitting dispute that involves retired Spurs super star George Gervin could result in criminal or civil legal action if a Spring Branch developer doesnt get his paperwork into the coun ty soon The developer Guillermo de Alba Brewster said a week ago that engineering problems had put him behind schedule Friday he said all the uments from his engineering firm are in and he has near ly finished the application process Tm keeping very close con tact with the county engineer who has been very under standing and cooperative We had a couple things that werent ready Wednesday that we got in Thursday Im doing my Brewster said I keep up with my Gervin and his wife Joyce are involved because they bought nearly 26 acres of the land to build a new home on They cant get needed per mits because the land hasnt been platted June 5 County Judge Dan ny Scheel gave Brewster one week to complete the appli cation County Engineer Tom Hornseth said Thursday that Brewster had not submitted a complete plat application for the property he owns which is adjacent to the Spring Branch Meadows sub division off 281 There is progress weve received some papers but we dont have a complete plat Hornseth said Scheel said Thursday he believed the developer had enough time to comply with the rules He has ordered District Attorney Dib Waldrip to move forward on legal action Waldrip said his office is See SUBDIVISIONS Excouncilman Kendrick undergoes cancer surgery BY DYLAN JIMENEZ Staff Writer Former District 4 City Councilman Robert Kendrick is sitting up in the intensive care unit at Memorial Her man Hospital in Houston He is recovering from surgery for the next few days after parts of his stomach pancreas and gall bladder were re moved Some of the tissue will be exam ined for cancer cells The tests will be in in approximate ly 10 days and if that is clear then it appears that he is pretty well home free But he will have to undergo radiation for Betty Dunkin family friend said Complaining of stomach pain June 1 his wife Betty Kendrick encouraged Robert to go to the emergency room at McKenna He thought he had some bad Dunkin said Tests from McKen na showed cancer in the stomach area He left June 8 for further testing Can cer was again found and he was scheduled for surgery Thursday The Kendricks werent certain about the cancer until We were in shock because we had no Betty Kendrick said See Mayor of Herbville Above Herb Caldwell the selfproclaimed mayor of enjoys play ing with his grandchildren Adam in Herbs Andrew left and Eric Boyce Much of his family lives in the same culde sac Right Caldwell will soon retire from his position as maintenance supervisor for county buildings after 17 years He plans to spend his free time babysitting his grandchildren DAVID Patriarch of neighborhood ends 17 years with county BY RON MALONEY Staff Writer Herb Caldwell is moving on Comal Countys building maintenance supervisor is hanging up his tool belt after more than 17 years of over seeing cleaning and mainte nance of the countys build ings to be with his grand children Comal Countys loss will be a very big gain for Her Herbville is what county employees who know Herb and there are few who dont call the little culde sac of Kingswood Circle located not far from New Braunfels High School Folks around the court house call it Herbville because Herb and his wife Betsy live in the home at the end of it They fondly refer to him as the mayor of On one side is his daugh ter Donna Vestals family with three boys and a girl On the other is his daugh ter Cindy Boyce and her family which includes five boys I have five grandchildren on one side and four on the Herb said Between his house and Cindys is the house his son James owns but leases to Herbs nephew Jason Weber and his family with four boys Herb has another son David who lives in Austin and a daughter Sandra who lives in Kerrville But in Herb lives a grandfathers dream more than two dozen grand kids or grandnephews all liv ing right next door and com ing to see papa whenever they feel like it which is pret ty often Thats because Herb who See INSIDE Dear 5A Stocks Rabble rousers fights earned him respect Merntt Schumann has been in the life insurance business in New Braunfels since 1953 He became active in politics in 1946 while still in high sjchool At one time he thought he would be run out of town for his political views BY SEAN BOWLIN Staff Writer It was 1956 As a young school district board member Merritt Schu mann successfully fought to integrate New Braunfels pub lic schools He fought to have an out side firm reevaluate homes so the school district could equitably tax them Those stances did not earn him much favor He received letters denounc ing him When he ran for election he was defeated Yet Schxynann 75 stayed involved in politics govern ment and all things civic After graduating from the University of Texas in June 1950 Schumann spent three years at sea on a destroyer during the Korean War He came back to New Braunfels in 1953 and went into the life insurance business He immersed himself in civic activities accepting a stint as superintendent of church school at First Protes tant Church He held that position for 25 years He joined the Noon Loons Club in 1953 and has been a member ever since earning the Melvin Jones Club Award one of the clubs highest hon ors Schumann became active in politics after joining the Jaycees or Junior Chamber of Commerce That sparked his interest in running for the school board in 1956 Most people thought I was too he said He was 28 at the time He tackled unpopular sub jects with vigor becoming involved in reevaluating appraisals of taxable proper ties for the school district See